The problem is that a lot of these products may say they’re “natural” or “organic,” but fail to actually live up to their claims. Manufacturers know that today’s savvy customers are willing to pay a few pennies more for a product they believe will be better for their health, so they pile on the hype, shouting about how green their products are, when in reality, they may have simply thrown in a plant extract or two and called it good.

Why does this happen? Profit, plain and simple. Imagine you’re Joe CEO, head of a huge corporation, and you’re tasked with improving your bottom line for the following year. You haven’t hit the “green” market yet, so you set your teams to work on a new product line. They come back with two scenarios: 1) use real natural ingredients and either increase prices to cover the costs or take a hit on profit margin; or 2) keep the same standard formula, but add a few green-sounding ingredients to satisfy the health-conscious consumer, while keeping prices low and profits high. I don’t  have to tell you what many corporations choose!

This is why it’s so necessary for us to read labels and continue to educate ourselves about what’s safe and what’s not. I’ve already given you a convenient “Ingredients to Avoid” card you can take with you when you go shopping, but here are a few more tips to help you determine the wheat from the chaff.

1. Read the label. It’s the easiest way to discover the truth. Read to find out what’s really inside the product!

2. Look for ingredients you can pronounce, and use caution with words like “natural” and “organic.” So far, we have no regulations in this country concerning the use of these words, so even if a product puts just one organic ingredient in a formula, they can call the whole thing “organic.” Some organic products can still contain potentially harmful carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and other harsh chemicals. Real organic stuff will contain simpler ingredients you can actually pronounce. If you see a USDA seal, that’s also a good sign, as that means that the product is 95 percent organic. Just make sure the other five percent doesn’t include phthalates, petrochemicals, and the like.

3. Pay attention to pecking order. In the world of personal care products, being first is important. What’s the first ingredient on the list? How about the second and third? Lots of products claiming to be natural or green will throw in herbs and extracts, but you can tell they’re frauds when you see these near the end of the ingredient list.

4. Don’t be deceived by “naturally derived.” Boiling hot water may be “naturally derived,” but does that mean it’s safe? Of course not. The source may be water—perfectly natural—but at a boiling temperature it’s plenty dangerous. Manufacturers love to put “naturally derived” on their labels to make you think they’re natural. Take something like PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate. Yes, it comes from coconut oil, but the problem is what happens between the coconut and the product. In this case, the ingredient is put through a lot of processing, which can include the use of chemicals and may result in dangerous by-products. Don’t be fooled. Just because the source is safe doesn’t mean the end product is.

5. Forget fragrance. I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating: the word “fragrance” is a handy term manufacturers can use to cover up whatever they’re using to create that fragrance—which is often lots of chemicals.

Do you have other tips for scouting out safe products? Please share.

Photo courtesy the dnotley2002 via Flickr.com.

If so, you may be a little frustrated. It’s all well and good to want to buy better, safer products, but sometimes it’s another thing to find them! We think if we go to health food stores or places who claim to sell “natural” or “organic” products, we’ll be able to pull most anything off the shelf and feel good about it, but unfortunately, even these stores can sometimes have products with toxic ingredients. Rule of thumb: Always read ingredient lists no matter what the product claims.

To help you out, we’ve put together a list of places where you’re more likely to find the products you’re looking for. Again, always read labels, but if you start with these locations, you’ll have better luck getting what you need.

Skin Deep Database: Whatever product you choose, you can always check it out at the Skin Deep Database, which will list the ingredients and give you toxicity scores on each.

Health Food Stores: Though you must still be careful, health food stores typically have more safe products than will your typical department store. Try whole foods markets, vitamin cottages, natural health stores, organic shops, and the like.

Organic Departments: Many grocery stores now have organic sections that carry organic and natural brands of personal care products. You may find what you’re looking for there.

Beautorium: A natural and organic beauty emporium, Beautorium offers a hand-picked selection of the best in natural and organic beauty products from around the world. They screen the products so that all are natural or organic (most are certified), cruelty-free, and effective. A unique “good to know” system summarizes the information you need to know to make wise choices.

Bella Floria: Subtitled “truth in beauty,” this site takes beauty seriously—but naturally. They feature carefully selected natural skin care, cosmetics, aromatherapy, bath and body, soap, hair care and other beauty products. All are chosen for quality certified-organic and all-natural ingredients. Brands are eco-friendly and do not contain parabens, artificial fragrances, or dyes.

Best in Beauty: Confused about reading labels? This site has a new “Labels for Life” page that teaches you how to read cosmetic ingredients just like you’ve learned to read nutrition facts on food labels. A shopping site as well as an advocate for safer products, Best in Beauty has all-natural skin care, hair care, body care, fragrances, and gift packages.

Caren Online: Here you’ll find products to help you create simply beautiful skin—natural and organic items free of parabens and other toxins. Products are screened to be chemical-free. Even the site looks fresh! Also has a men’s care department and a blog.

Cathys Organic Super Store: This site prides itself on offering organic products at lower prices. Members get items at 25-70% off. The store is huge—everything from beauty to clothing to gifts to home to pets to babies. Lots to choose from!

Edible Nature: This is a discount web site carrying popular natural & organic health and beauty products from famous brand names including Tom’s of Maine, Burt’s Bees, Waleda, Ecover, and more. You can find vitamins, natural beauty products, natural cleansers, organic tea & coffee, and wholesale bulk organic foods.

Future Natural: Go to this site for Soleo Sunscreen—voted #1 by Skin Deep Database—and for organic perfumes, lip glazes, shampoos and conditioners, makeup, and just about anything beauty related. You’ll even find a blog and a glossary of ingredients.

Good Earth Beauty: Focusing exclusively on beauty products, this site screens all products to include only those that are natural, organic, and have not been tested on animals. You’ll find body scrubs, eye shadows, face & body oils, and much more, plus a blog, ingredients glossary, and even a vegan shop. Includes products from smaller companies as well.

Mint & Berry: You’ll find regular sales on this site, founded by Charmaine Leah, skin care therapist. Products include organic skin care, hair, and body care that are free of synthetic ingredients. They also avoid parabens, sodium lauryl sulphate, phthalates, PEG, artificial colorants and dyes, BHT, petroleum, and more. These products contain more herbal extracts, fruit-based ingredients, and certified-organic essential oils.

Natural Solutions: Natural brands such as Living Nature, Primavera Life, and Brigit True Organics can be found here, as well as other natural and organic alternatives in the bath, body, skin, and cosmetic realms. No parabens or synthetic dyes. You’ll also find beauty advice.

Nimli: With sales of the week, featured brands, and a blog, this site seeks to show you stylish but sustainable natural and organic products, including beauty, home décor, accessories, and clothing. Founded in New York City, Nimli seeks to offer everyone green products that embrace style.

Pristine Planet: Selling aromatherapy, bath & beauty, cosmetics, personal-care items, skin care, and even products for pregnancy, Pristine Planet lists products from socially responsible merchants all over the world. The revenue from purchases goes to green businesses. Each product is tagged with a label to help you decide for yourself who you want to buy from.

Saffron-Rouge: This website has makeup, hair, and bath products all made without unsafe ingredients.

Spirit Beauty Lounge: Shop by brand or type of product on this site that carries all organic and sustainable products.

The Nature of Beauty: Makeup, skin care, hair care, mom & baby, & men’s products are all here—and all either organic or natural. Founders of the site claim to read every label and research every ingredient. The site also includes a blog, an ingredients-to-avoid list, and samples.

Do you have other places our readers can find safe products? Let us know.

Photo courtesy Snap Village.

Hillary Peterson and Marie Veronique Nadeau of “Marie Veronique Organics.”

Question: What do you get when you combine a former chemistry teacher with a passion for safe and responsible skin-care products, with a marketing guru and two-time cancer survivor committed to living a healthy lifestyle?

Answer: A company committed to making non-toxic products safe enough for all skin types—and a story that shows we can have beautiful skin without paying for it with our health.

“I had a melanoma ten years ago,” says Hillary Peterson, CEO of Marie Veronique Organics. “I also had thyroid cancer fifteen years ago. With those two occurrences in mind, I was really thinking about how I could live my healthiest life. My focus on that took on a new meaning for me.”

Having already adopted healthy-eating habits and meditation, Hillary was taking steps to make her body more resistant to cancer growth. “Before, I might have had an Oreo cookie every now and then,” she says, “but now there is no way I would eat a partially hydrogenated anything.”

Hillary started buying more local, fair-trade, and organic foods, but it was only later that she started thinking about her personal-care products. “I never imagined the lotion I’d used for years was primarily made with petroleum products, or that my sunscreens were made with harmful chemicals that have been linked with cancer. I never understood that what you put on your skin goes into your body and into your bloodstream. It was a big shift in my learning.”

Hillary describes herself as a “frustrated consumer,” as she was finding it really difficult to purchase truly safe products. “Doing whatever you can to have an optimally functioning immune system makes a lot of sense. Everyone says these products don’t do anything, but no one has tested for the cumulative load. If you use lotions with petroleum products for 30 years, in addition to eating partially hydrogenated oils, how much can the body take?”

Finally, she connected with the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep Database and found that Marie Veronique Organics seemed to be one of the safer brands. “She was in my area, so I called her up.” Marie, having started her company with homemade formulations in her own kitchen, was already making products free of petroleum-based products, nanoparticles, and other toxic ingredients. She and Hillary hit it off immediately. “We had an amazing conversation,” Hillary says. “I talked to her about my experience and my frustration, and she told me about her philosophy—if something isn’t safe, she doesn’t use it—and that’s very rare to find these days.”

Within a short time, Hillary was working with Marie to help grow the company. “We wanted to provide only what would be safe and effective for customers,” Hillary says. “We hung a sign that my daughter made in the office. It says, ‘Is it safe for children?’ In other words, anything we make needs to be safe for even very vulnerable populations.”

Marie’s other passion of aging gracefully meant she was creating products that actually worked. “There’s this perception that in order to get results you need chemicals,” Hillary says, “but we provide another option for people.”

According to Marie, it’s all about increasing your defenses, protecting from the sun, and repairing cellular damage—in other words, giving the body what it needs to naturally produce healthy, young-looking skin. “When you have a product loaded with powerful and fresh antioxidants,” Marie says, “it can make a huge difference. And if you have enough hyaluronic acid in your skin, it gives it that plump look and can counteract aging. When you nourish your face—like when you nourish your body—it really does respond.”

In the end, Marie says, while chemicals often contribute to skin breakdown, natural products support the health of skin, resulting in a more younger-looking appearance. “It’s like the difference between chemicals in your food and natural food. Natural stuff works better—it gives your body the wherewithal to heal itself. The body does wonders as long as it’s got enough to work with.”

Hillary—now in remission for 10 years—is thrilled to be investing her time and energies into a company that cancer fighters and survivors can feel good about. “It means a lot for me as a cancer survivor to go to work everyday and grow a business that helps people live the healthiest possible lifestyle.”

If you’d like to try Marie Veronique Organics, please visit their web site.

The risk of bugs in your creams and lotions is real. Just recently the FDA warned that Clarcon skin products contained harmful bacteria that could cause infections and recommended all recent buyers to throw the product away. “Without preservatives,” writes Dr. Leslie Baumann, chief of the Division of Cosmetic Dermatology,  “our products would quickly be colonized by all sorts of nasty bacteria, mold, and fungi.”

Bugs that get into our products can put us at risk for infections like Strep, Tetanus, gangrene, conjunctivitis, or allergic reactions. According to The Beauty Brains, microbes will grow in almost any environment that contains water, so once any product is opened and exposed to moisture in the air, microbes can grow. “Self-preserving” products may use some natural preservatives, but these may be effective only against certain microbes and not others, leaving you at risk. Cosmetics stripped of preservatives require refrigeration and can expire as quickly as milk, as well as carry an increased risk of contamination.

So what’s a good preservative, and what’s not? First, it helps to know that they come in two types—natural and synthetic. Natural preservatives include essential oils, extracts, vitamins, and salts like potassium sorbate and silver citrate, which may have fewer health risks. Shelf life may be shorter than with synthetics, but is typically long enough to finish up the product if you’re using it regularly. Synthetic preservatives are man-made and include parabens, urea derivatives, isothiazolones, halogen-organic actives, and others like EDTA, phenoxyethanol, and DMDM-Hydantoin.

We recommend you avoid parabens, because of their potential connection to breast cancer. Ureas and hydantoin DMDM have been linked with dermatitis and may release formaldehyde. Even phenoxyethanol, which is considered a safe alternative to parabens, has been restricted in Japan and the EU because of its potential mutagenic effects. Sadly, though they are effective against bugs, it seems most synthetic preservatives carry some health risks—especially since we are exposed to them everyday in several products.

Most natural preservatives, like vitamins and essential oils, are free of any toxic effects, and still can be quite powerful against microbes. However, don’t expect them to last for more than a year in most cases. Look for organic and natural products, and be sure to check the labels. Sometimes manufacturers put the words “natural” or “organic” on products that still contain toxic synthetic preservatives. If they have an “use-by” date, be sure to throw them away after they’ve expired. Some suggestions: Boscia, Garden Girl Skin Care, Skin Botanica, and Real Purity.  Natural Solutions has several other recommendations as well.

Do you have a favorite product with natural preservatives? Let us know.

Photo courtesy of Kate Proulx via Flickr.com.

But what about your makeup? Again, you want to use gentle, sensitive-skin formulas that are free of toxic chemicals, but as you’re perusing your drawer of products, one more thing you may want to consider is your makeup brushes. Where did you get them? What kind are they? When was the last time you washed them?

The most important thing about your brushes is that they’re soft. And believe it or not, that could mean either natural or synthetic bristles.  Let’s look at the difference.

Natural bristles are made with animal hair that comes from goats, ponies, badgers, or squirrels. (If you’re allergic to animal hair, choose synthetic brushes.) But just because it’s animal hair doesn’t mean it’s quality—it all depends on how it’s treated and connected to the handle. Natural bristles are usually hand-shaped and glued, and range from feeling really soft to rough and scratchy. (Some goats have softer hair than others, and it also depends on how the hair is processed.) They also may shed, but they usually hold powder better than synthetic bristles and distribute it more evenly, which is why they’re often preferred by professionals.

“Squirrel hair has some of the softest bristles,” says makeup writer Teresa Hall. “Good sable makeup brushes, taken care of properly, will last the longest.”

Synthetic brushes are made using man-made materials, and can also range from rough-feeling to silky soft. You can tell their synthetic by their shinier appearance. The biggest advantage is they typically don’t shed, and glide over your face easily, which can be better for dry, flaky skin. High-quality synthetic brushes can be just as nice as natural ones, so if you’re concerned about animal rights and want to avoid natural-hair, you can still find quality brushes. However, watch out for low-quality synthetic brushes, as they can stiffen with use.

“I have very sensitive skin,” says Moo. “The only natural hair brushes that don’t bother my skin are high-quality squirrel and Italian Badger hair brushes. Lumiere’s synthetics are even softer.”

To test for shedding, run your fingers through the hair, flip the bristles back and forth, then brush the brush on your hand like you would when applying makeup. After a few times if the hair is coming off, move along and test another one. If the bristles feel stiff or prickly, don’t buy it, as it will only get worse.

If both natural and synthetic brushes can be quality tools, how do you choose? Look for a trustworthy brand. Jane Iredale has a reputation for making products that are good for sensitive skin, so we’d recommend you try her brushes, which are all hand-tied. Users rave about the softness of Lumeire brushes, and Pristine Planet has some great animal-free options. Taklon makeup brushes (a synthetic material) are reputed to be best for applying cream or liquid makeup, as they hold onto the makeup and distribute it evenly. Some Taklon brushes have anti-bacterial benefits, which can be helpful while you’re going through treatment. (Natural bristles can trap powders and chemicals in makeup.)

Finally, don’t forget to clean your brushes often (at least once a week), particularly while you’re going through treatment. Use warm water and a little toxin-free shampoo, swirl in a cup, use your fingers to clean the hairs gently in the direction of the hair, then run under clean water until the water runs clear. Air dry on a paper towel with the brush hanging over the sink overnight. Do not dry the brushes upright (with the hair pointing upward) as moisture and particles can collect into the base of the brush and cause the hair to eventually fan out or shed, or even loosen the handle.

Do you have a favorite makeup brush for sensitive skin? Let us know!

Photo courtesy of annia316 via Flickr.com.

Following are several homemade remedies you can try. Be sure to test each one on a small area of skin first, to prevent any allergic reactions.

Makeup Remover/Dry Cuticles: Try a little olive, sesame, or jojoba oil on a cotton swab, or use one of these recipes. These oils also work great as a finger soak to soften cuticles. For another option, put a third cup of water in a jar, add 3 Tbsp powdered milk, and shake. (Result should be the consistency of cream—if not, add more water or more powder.) Take a washcloth, wet it with warm water, put some of the makeup remover on the cloth, and gently wipe your face.

Puffy Eyes: Apply egg whites underneath eyes, allow them to dry, and then rinse off. Other options include daisy extract, cold milk, or chrysanthemum tea for allergy-related puffiness.

Facial Moisturizer: Rub the inside of an avocado peel on your face, leave for 15 minutes, and rinse dry. Or smash an avocado in a bowl, add a squeeze of lemon, and leave on your face for 20 minutes. Mashed ripe bananas mixed with honey also help moisturize skin. For more facials and moisturizer recipes, see these homemade solutions.

Very Dry Skin: Many natural oils work to soften skin. Try olive, almond, or sesame oil anywhere on your body. Many aromatherapy shops have great natural massage oils that work perfectly. Choose organic varieties like those from Northern Naturals or Mountain Rose Herbs. Another option: combine 5 grapes, 2 tsp lemon or lime juice, and 1 Tbsp castor oil. This mixture will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Cleanser: For a mild, gentle facial cleanser, try this: combine 2 oz. plain yogurt, 2 tsp honey, ¾ tsp wheat-germ oil, 1 oz finely peeled and sliced apple, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1-1/2 Tbsp instant mashed potatoes, and 3-5 drops of lavender essential oil. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate, and use as needed. The mixture usually lasts from two to three days.

Moisturizing Face Mask: Touted as the easiest product to make at home, recipes abound for moisturizing masks. One of the most popular is oatmeal—simply blend with a little water, spread over skin, wait, then rinse. You can also try blending a handful of almonds, plain full-fat yogurt, and honey until smooth, and applying the resulting paste on your skin. For a tastier option, try the chocolate mask (amazing antioxidant properties!): mix 1 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1 Tbsp heavy cream, 1 tsp cottage cheese, 4 tsp honey, and 1 tsp oatmeal in a blender. Apply to face and leave on 10 minutes, then rinse. Yummy! Find other mask recipes here.

Discoloration/Hyperpigmentation (usually after chemotherapy is over): Fade age spots by rubbing papaya or pineapple on the skin. Or, try this: chop an onion, squeeze the juice out (with cheese cloth), then take one part apple cider vinegar and one part of the onion juice, mix together, dab a cotton pad into the solution and apply it to the age spots. Repeat once a day for 6 weeks and see if you notice a gradual improvement.

Dry/Chapped Lips: Mix olive oil and sugar together (equal amounts) and rub gently on lips to exfoliate and make them smooth. For soft lips, apply tomato paste and milk cream. To prepare your own balm, mix 2 tsps coconut oil, lemon juice, 3 drops of lemon oil and 1 tsp bee wax. Warm it on a low flame. After melting, pour into a glass jar.

If you have an effective homemade skin-care idea, tell us about it!

Photo courtesy of you can count on me, via Flickr.com.